VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Maggots, Masks, Myths: Metamorphosis between Nature and Culture
Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:14:27
Abstract
Metamorphosis shapes both organic life and human imagination. This seminar explores its manifestations across biology, philosophy, aesthetics and literature, highlighting the ways in which processes of metamorphosis transform across disciplines and cultural practices.
Objective
Students will be able to 1. Gain an overview of biological, cultural, and aesthetic theories of metamorphosis from antiquity to the present. 2. Understand the interplay btw. scientific concepts & aesthetic practices in shaping ideas of metamorphosis. 3. Analyze & critically reflect on practices of transformation across a range of phenomena, from literature and art to social and biological contexts.
Content
Metamorphosis is a fundamental principle of both nature and culture: it reshapes bodies and realities, unsettles identity and challenges language. It emerges in biological processes such as evolution; in social dynamics of assimilation and acculturation; and in artistic experimentation and literary invention. This seminar examines metamorphoses across a wide range of texts and contexts: from ancient myths such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses to Darwin’s evolutionary theory, from socio-cultural debates to modern literary texts, from ecological perspectives to questions of gender and identity. In these contexts, metamorphosis is not only the object of scientific observation or cultural reflection. At the intersections of anthropology, theater, and aesthetics, it also becomes a method in itself, taking shape in practices of mimicry and masking. The seminar’s aim is to analyze these diverse forms and theories of transformation and to examine the ways in which they cross disciplinary, bodily and conceptual boundaries.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS , MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
- Max Places
- 75
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar | Maggots, Masks, Myths: Metamorphosis between Nature and Culture |
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
-
Science in Perspective (In “Science in Perspective”-courses students learn to reflect on ETH’s STEM subjects from the perspective of humanities, political and social sciences. Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "Science in Perspective" courses.)
-
Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (SiP courses are recommended for bachelor students after their first-year examination and for all master- or doctoral students. All SiP courses are listed in Type A. Courses listed under Type B are only recommendations for enrollment for specific departments.)
-
-
-